Harold Holdsworth (Ninclow)
'''Harold Eugene Holdsworth '''is a wealthy British wizard born into an old, respectable upper-class family of great wealth and strong ties to the Ministry of Magic. Having resided in a handsome townhouse in London for four generations and worked within magical domestic and international politics for at least three, both his father and grandfather were well-respected members of the Wizengamot in their time, with the latter even being duly appointed British Envoy to the International Confederation of Wizards. Not as drawn to the cut and thrust of politics as his forefathers, however, upon graduating from Hogwarts, Harold went to work for Gringotts Wizarding Bank as a Curse Breaker, in which capacity he have made his way through caves, mountains, deserts, forests and traveled to more than a dozen countries across three continents on behalf of the bank. Following the catastrophic events of 1877, however, at which time he decided he had outgrown the allure of adventures and exotic treasures, and returns to England in order to assume a position in which he could more easily uphold the family tradition of striving for the betterment of the magical community. Biography: Family background In a sense of irony, magical historians has discovered that the founding patriarch of this proud wizarding family was, in fact, very much a Muggle. A mild-mannered and curiously unremarkable man, who by all accounts lived a rather unremarkable life, residing on the outskirts of a small village in Southern England that long had been unchanged by time and untouched by the sword. There, his younger sister spun wool into the thread and coil it into the yarns that he would weave into cloth before it was bartered or sold to the people thereabouts. It was a meager living, and the two had spent their lives hand-to-mouth for as long as they could remember, and chief among the reasons for it was the unreasonably high prices the local farmer (the only one for miles and miles) demanded in exchange for the wool, owed in no small part due to an old dispute between their father and that of the farmer's long since forgotten but still begrudged. Even so, they lived a very happy life, taking care of each other as best they could, hoping against that one day, their lives might get better. His fortunes were to change that fateful night when he lost everything, on which - after the siblings fell asleep as he usually did, to the distant sounds laughter and cheerful banter from the tavern but a stone's throw away from the modest wooden hut their parents had left them behind - there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that cruel and wicked things would soon be happening. When they awoke, however, he knew something was not right. It was still nighttime, yet it was a sharp, flickering light from outside their window that had brought him out of his sleep. And what were even more unsettling, he noticed how the noise had changed. The singing had stopped. He could hear screams, and the sound of people running. Peeking out through his door, the scene outside horrified horrified him: Evil had found its way to their doorstep. Bandits wielding torches and steel, slaying and burning all in their path. Blood red flames lit the night as the villagers screamed and begged for mercy, and soon their bodies filed the streets. Then the raiders reached the last house: His house. The bandits ripped it apart, but could not find the witch they were looking for, and in their fury, turned on the poor spinner when he had to knowledge that could help them: Although he fought to protect his kin, he was no warrior and fell mortally wounded, and could do nothing but watch as his sister was killed before his eyes. From the nearby woods, the very woman whom the fiends had been tracking watched in horror as they burned the little settlement to the ground, leaving behind naught but death and ashes, but did not dare to come to their aid, for while she had magic, she was but one, and they were many. Once they had moved on, however, the witch found him, within an inch of his life: With a flourish of her wand, she healed the wound, and with a wave, raised his limp body from the ground and navigated it through the forest from which she had come, and brought him back to a small hut deep within in which she had been hiding. There, she nursed him back to health. It was a slow process, because while the wounds were healed, he had lost much blood, and were bed-ridden for many days afterwards. Within his first week, the two had grown to trust each other enough for her to confided in him her name: Harmonia. A proud member of group whose renown for its valiant efforts to aid Muggles from those who using magic against them was such that even a poor, uneducated weaver of wool such of himself knew of their activities. The leader of the bandits, she told him, Waldemar, was indeed an unpleasant and cruel man, but he was also an unwilling servant of a mighty and fearsome warlock whose reign of terror she and her compatriots had tried to thwart. For a year, some of the best and brightest the Order of Merlin had to offer had put up a good fight to thwart his reign of terror, until finally she was the only one left. Hearing how her parents too had been members of the Order and both of them fallen to the might of what the evil sorcerer had called for the Wand of Destiny, the young Mr. Holdsworth took just as much pity on her for the loss of her parents as she did him for the loss of his sister. Having nowhere to go and having grown quite close, united by grief and hopes for a better future for both of them. Upon finding one of the horses from the village that had managed to escape from the farm stables during the attack and fled into the woods, they decided to use it to elope, escaping their past lives and let others deal with Emeric. And that they did, journeying north to settle down. They eventually made a home for themselves in Yorkshire, where his wife revealed she had hidden away a nice pile of wizarding gold, ensuring that they would want for nothing. The former weaver and the witch proceeded to get married and eventually got four children, all of which showed signs of magical abilities and became part of some of the earliest generations of students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland, which, at that time, was still being run by three of its four original Founders To the delight of both Mr. and Mrs. Holdsworth, their oldest son and heir went in his mother's footsteps, joining the Order of Merlin in due course, advocating for equality, and for the companionship between wand-carrying and wandless men. In time, the Holdsworths came to enjoy an illustrious reputation as arguably one of the most straight-laced and conventional (though some say sycophantic) wizarding families in Great Britain, with their political advocacy frequently landing them seats at the Wizards' Council, mainly as in which capacities they were usually found to be hard-working supporters of the ruling powers, and for the most part dyed-in-the-wool as far as political opinion went, insofar that those of greater wealth, influence and power than themselves did not change their own, in which case the Holdsworths traditionally would make a abrupt volt-face. One such example is Holland Holdsworth, a Wizengamot Elder who was strongly opposed to the idea of the wizarding world going into hiding and wished to declare war upon the Muggles, although there are still some debate about whether this was because any witch or wizard who chose to fraternise with Muggles in the 17th century became an outcast in their own community, or because he lost his firstborn son to witch hunters. In the coming centuries, however, it quickly became evident to whom the Holdsworth owed their allegiance. The more notable members is, among others, first Herold Holdsworth served as an advisor to Minister Eldritch Diggory on the committee to find an alternative to the wizarding prison of Azkaban, Silvanus Holdsworth headed the research committee dedicated to the Muggle brainpower on the behest of former Minister for Magic Ottaline Gambol and the actually sycophantic Chief Warlock Eldred Holdsworth who readily passed each and every legislation of Hortensia Milliphutt with no complaint. Less impressive ones includes Herald Holdsworth Snr, the first Head of the Ludicrous Patents Office and former Head of the Improper Use of Magic Office, Herald Holdsworth Jnr who introduced the Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects, a career accomplishment that earned him a little more respect from his superiors until it was discovered that he had merely caught up on the paperwork of his predecessor, who had drafted most of it. Early life Harold Holdsworth was born to wizarding parents on September 15, 1846, only an hour or two after midnight. Raised long with his younger brother Gerbold, in the lap of luxury in a large, handsome townhouse in London, and prudently educated to believe in the value of social standing. As such, although the Holdsworth is independently wealthy with no actual need to work for a living, it have long been a family tradition of sorts for them to actively pursue careers within politics and other prestigious titles that would contribute to their social advancement, even if their intent Early life Early childhood (1846-1857) School career (1857-1863) Grand Tour (1863-1864) Working for Gringotts Early employment (1866-1867) Category:Ninclow